Supporting means for draft and buffing gears for cars.



l vv. F. RICHARDS. SUPPORTING MEANS FOR DRAFT AND BUFFING GEARS FOR CARS.

APPLICATiON FILED DEC-29.19I5.

Patented Oct. 29, 1918.

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WI F. RICHARDS. SUPPORTING MEANS FOR DRAFT AND BUFFING GEARS FOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC29. |915.

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WILLARD F. RICHARDS, 0F DEPEW, NEW YORK, .ASSIGN OR TO GOULD COUPLER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR DRAFT .AND BUFFING GEARS FOR CARS.

Speeication of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 19u18.

l Application filed December 29, 1915. Serial No. 69,159.

To all whom t may concern:l

Be it known that I, WILLARD F. RICHARDS, citizen of the United States, residing at Depew, inthe county of Erie and State Of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Supporting Means for Draft and Buthng Gears for Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to draft and buifing mechanisms for railway cars, particularly wooden frame cars, in which the wooden center sills extend over the transverse body bolster and in which the draft and bufhng gear is supported below the plane of the center sills by supportingbeams or members secured to and depending below the center sills. It has been found in practice that the draft and buiing gears in cars of such constructions, in resisting the strains to which they are subjected, produce stresses` in the center sills in an up and down direction which are the frequent cause of the breaking of the center sills above the bolster or about at the transverse plane thereof. For instance, the severe buiiing shocks which act on the draft gear below the plane of the center sills, cause downward stresses on the center sills in front of the bolster which tend to, and frequently do, break the center sills at the front edge of the bolster.

The objects of this invention are to produce a draft-gear supporting structure of novel and desirable construction which eX- tends rearwardly over and beyond the body bolster and coperates with the center sills so as to strengthen them and prevent them from being broken in the vicinity of the bolster by the strains to which thel gear `1s subjected; also to accomplish this result by means of composite beams or members 1n which the portions of the same which are located below the plane of the center sills and are of irregular shape to accommodate the draft gear, are made of cast metal, while the upper portions of the beams or members extend lengthwise beside the center sills and are made of Wrought or rolled sections, such as channel beams, angle beams, and the like; also to construct the gear supporting structure so that it gives the required strength to the center sills without necessitating the bolting or securing of the supporting structure to the center sills rearwardly beyond the bolster; and also to produce a supporting structure for draft and butling gears which is of improved construction in the respects hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary plan View of a car provided with draft gear supporting means embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation on line 2*2, Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan View thereof on line 3-3, Fig. 4, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 4c is a transverse sectional elevation thereof on line 4 4, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a front end elevation thereof.

Fig. G is a fragnientary longitudinal sectional elevation showing a slightly modified construction.

A represents the end sill, B B the center sills, and C the body bolster of a railway car. Since the supportinobeams or menibers for the draft and buiiing gear are especially suitable for and usually used on wooden frame ears, wooden end and center sills are illustrated in the drawings. D represents the draft'and butiing gear which, as usual, is located below the plane of and between the center sills. |lhe gear-supporting beams or members to which this invention relates can be readily adapted for use with draft and butling gears of different types, and the draft and bufting gear D illustrated may represent any known or desired construction of gear.

The beams or members which support the draft and bntling gear comprise lower cast nietal portions E, which are located below the center sills in front of the bolster, that is, between the same and the end of the ear, and wrought or rolled metal beams F, which extend lengthwise beside the center sills over the bolster to a point rearwardly beyond the same. rl`he draft and butiing gear D is located betlween and supported by the cast lower parts E, and these parts are made of suitable shape to accommodate the par ticular draft and butiing gear with which they are to be used, and they are provided along their upper edges with horizontal flanges or parts which are securely and rigidly attached, as by riveting, to horizontal flanges extending along the lower edges of the upper wrought metal'beams F. In the form shown in the drawings, 'the cast. parts ll have pockets e at their inner sides between their ends in which the movable followers or parts of the draft gear are confined and operate, outwardly projecting horizontal flanges c' and e2 at their upper and lower edges, and outwardly projecting intermediate flanges e3 extending from the ends of the Dockets e to the ends of the castings, while t 1e beams F are of channel-shape and extend alongside the outer vertical faces of the cent-er sills with their upper and lower flanges f f projecting outwardly. Rivets f2 passing through the upper flanges of the cast parts E and lower flanges f of the beams rigidly secure the parts together. The beams F are secured to the center sills between `the bolster and the end sill A by horizontal bolts g and these beams are preferably provided at their front ends with corner braces or knee-pieces g which bear against the inner face of the end sill and through which the usual truss rods g2 of the car pass. The cast parts E are further secured to the center sills by vertical bolts g3 and preferably extend forwardly beneath the end sill A and are securely attached at their front ends, as by rivets l1, passing through end flanges h on the castings, to a buffer block H which extends transversely of the car at the outer or front side ofthe end sill. The upper portion of the buffer block, as usual, is secured by bolts h2 to the end sill.

The cast lower beam-parts E preferably terminate a short distance in front of the bolster and a cross tie member I extends transversely below the center sills between the rear ends of the cast beam-parts E and the bolster, this transverse tie being preferably secured to the rear ends of the parts E and to the bolster by horizontal bolts 27 which extend lengthwise of the car through the bolster and cross tie and through end flanges i on the rear ends of the cast parts E. In this way the castings are securely fastened to the bolster and are also rigidly tied together yso as to prevent the gear supporting beams from spreading under the stresses to which they are subjected. The castings E are also preferably tied together beneath the draft and bufling gear by botto-m cross ties K K which extend transversely beneath the castings E and are secured at their ends by bolts 2 to the lower horizontal flanges of the castings.

L represents a horizontal plate which extends transversely beneath the center sills at the rear side of the bolster and is secured at its ends, as by rivets Z, to the horizontal flanges at the lower edges of the wrought metal beams F. This plate bears against the lower faces of the center sills and resists upward movement of the inner ends of the beams F relative to the center sills, and thus practically prevents the possibility of the center sills being broken above or adjacent to the bolster by the strainsrplaccd on the sills` duc to the bulling shocks on. the draft complicated castings.

masses and bufling gear. The plate L also rigidly ties together the inner ends of the beams F and prevents the same from spreading or tearing away from the center sills. It will be noted that the upward pressure of the rear ends of the beams F tends to bend the tie plate L over the bottom faces of the center sills and this has a tendency to throw the upper edges of the beams F inwardly against the center' sills rather than to spread the beams F and tear them away from the center sills, as in the case of constructions in which the gear-supporting beams are not tied together at their bot-toms.

The inner ends of the 'wrought metal beams F can also, if desired, be tied together at their upper edges by a horizontal lplate which extends transversely over the center sills. Such a construction is shown in Fig. 6, in which M represents the upper tie plate which extends across and bears upon the top faces of the center sills and is riveted at its ends to the horizontal flanges j' at the upper edges of the beams F. This arrangement is adapted for constructions, such as illustrated, in which the beams F are of channelshape or have upper as well as lower edge flanges.

The gear-supporting structure described is very desirable in many respects. The composite beams having the cast lower parts and Wrought metal upper parts are stronger and cheaper to manufacture than singlepiece cast beams of similar dimensions, and as the upper beams F are made of commercial rolled shapes, the complicated machinery and operations necessitated in making pressed steel beams is obviated. The lower parts E which are of irregular shape and are therefore preferably cast, are of moderate size and can be made with much less foundry trouble and expense than larger and more This composite construction also enables the railroads to purchase only the cast lower parts E and supply the wrought metal upper beams themselves, which some roads prefer to do.

l claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a car having center sills and a bolster extending transversely beneath said center sills, of draftgear supportin members comprising cast lower parts which extend lengthwise below the center sills between the bolster and the end of the car and are provided with means for supporting a draft gear, and wrought metal beams which extend lengthwise beside the center sillsI over and beyond the bolster and have flanges at their lower edges rigidly secured to said cast lower parts, means securing said members to the center sills, and a horizontal connecting plate secured to the flanges of said beams at the rear side of the bolster and extending transversely beneath and adapted to bear upwardly against the masses bottom, faces of the center sills, said connecting plztte extending substantially from the rear side of the bolster to the rear end of said beams to form an extended bearing surface against said center sills.

2. The combination with a car having center sills and a bolster extending transversely beneath said center sills, of draft-gear supporting members comprising lower parts which extend lengthwise below the center sills between the bolster andthe end of the car and are provided with means for supporting a draft gear, and connected upper parts which extend lengthwise beside the center sills over and beyond the bolster, means securing said members to the center sills, and horizontal plates connecting the upper and'lower edges of said upper parts at the rear of the bolster and extending transversely respectively under and over the center sills.

3. The combination with a car having center sills and a bolster extending transversely beneath said center sills, of draft-gear sup-A and wrought metal beams which are rigidly secured to the upper edges of said castings and extend lengthwise beside the center sills over and beyond the bolster, means securing' said members to the center sills, a horizontal plate connecting said beams at the rear side of the bolster and extending'transversely beneath the center sills, said plate extending substantially from the rear end of the bolster to the rear ends of said wrought metal beams, and a cross tie secured to the rear ends of said draft gear supporting members and to the front edge of said bolster.

9Witness my hand, this 23 day of Dec., l 1

Witnesses 

